Northwestern volleyball spikes Lady Kats in straight sets

This article is brought to you by Jeff Lipinski for Howard County Commissioner District 1.

The state of volleyball in Howard County isn’t exactly stellar this season. Only two of the five teams locally sport winning records. One of those teams is Northwestern, and earlier this month they showed why they appear regularly in the win column. The Lady Tigers rolled Kokomo on Sept. 8, winning in straight sets 25-16, 25-19, and 25-18.

Senior Ava Schultz led Northwestern from the net, recording six kills. Sophomore Seri Candelaria added five kills, and junior Eliana Carlson was good for four kills. Junior Nahla Smith, however, was the most efficient of the frontliners, converting 43 percent of her attempts to collect three kills.

From the service line, Northwestern proved to be lethal. The team scorched the Lady Kats for 12 aces. Sophomore Jaelyn Fischer led the way with four aces on nine serves. Sophomore Ella Carver was perfect on serve, placing all 11 of her attempts in play.

As it is in most sports, defense wins games. The Northwestern front line successfully blocked four shots from Kokomo; four from Candelaria. The back line managed 20 digs to keep their team alive. Fischer sat atop that leaderboard with five digs.

It’s hard to get a kill without someone setting up the shot. In that regard, Smith shone for Northwestern. She successfully prepared 15 sets for points, and she successfully placed the ball in play 61 times, making just three errors.

Before Smith could set up the shot, she needed help from the back line, where Carlson led the way by successfully receiving 10 serves, enabling the team to move the ball across the net. Kokomo did not report statistics for the game.

Since the win, the Lady Tigers have gone 7-3 to finish September and currently sit at 13-8 for the season. they next host Taylor (0-21) on Oct. 1. The loss against Northwestern was the start of a painful streak for Kokomo, as the Lady Kats went 1-9 in the aftermath. Now sitting at 3-16, Kokomo next faces Logansport (2-20) on the road.

See additional photos from this match, featuring galleries for each team and the junior varsity match, courtesy of Adam Hartsough, on the Lantern’s Facebook page.